Sigh-ting in issues

[David658]

I loved reading about your issue and walking through your solution. Great learning tool for my future efforts to tighten up some of my favorite rifles. Thanks for following through to help others in the future!!

I hope it was a helpful as it has been frustrating. I think the biggest frustration is I live so far from my Oregon shooting buddies, so there has been a lot of email back and forth in lieu of trips to the range. Would likely have come to a solution sooner, but this worked well since at 63 I should be able to take care of this kind of thing.

Now, I have a different problem. I want all three, not just two, of those rounds to be in the same hole. Reloading, here I come. Another money pit.......

 

[OntarioHunter]

Now, I have a different problem. I want all three, not just two, of those rounds to be in the same hole. Reloading, here I come. Another money pit.......

David, that's a tall order for a mere mortal. Maybe get a lead sled?

 

[OntarioHunter]

It is the stock Ruger trigger that the smith lightened up.

$135 will buy you an adjustable Timney that you can install. I think it makes more sense to adjust the trigger to fit your comfort zone than attempt to adjust your comfort zone to fit a trigger.

My old WWII Springfield had a homemade creep adjustment alteration installed by Dad's gunsmith coworker but the trigger pull was still horrible. Didn't realize how bad it was till I shot my PH's gun in Africa. Trying to use the Springfield's creep adjustment to lighten the trigger pull made the gun dangerous. It failed the drop test (thumping the butt on concrete floor tripped the striker). So I changed to Timney. Was its 3.5 lb pull shocking? No. On the contrary. I immediately shot the gun better, not worse. No flyers. No creep. 100% crisp. Nothing really to get used to. That 3.5 lb Timney trigger fit me. Instantly. The old trigger never did. I think a lot of Japanese soldiers probably benefited from it though.

 

[Farmerj]

Interesting! I think my follow-through is decent because of my flintlock shooting - no jerks allowed. I'm just programmed for that heavy trigger pull of stock Ruger, so something more better fools me - I must train myself to be set and ready to go when the trigger gets a touch from my boogerhook.

You might be surprised to see that ML is causing an anticipated flinch. Minor, but still.

You’d be money ahead to do the trigger work and bed and pillar the action before starting down the reloading rabbit hole. Especially if you see a boolet mix that will perform for you.

Another thing to consider is your rifle sizing. Production jobs rarely fit properly.

 

[David658]

David, that's a tall order for a mere mortal. Maybe get a lead sled?

I know! And my mortality intervenes on most projects. We can have aspirations, right?

 

[David658]

You might be surprised to see that ML is causing an anticipated flinch. Minor, but still.

You’d be money ahead to do the trigger work and bed and pillar the action before starting down the reloading rabbit hole. Especially if you see a boolet mix that will perform for you.

Another thing to consider is your rifle sizing. Production jobs rarely fit properly.

Flinch is something easy to note with a flintlock - as that flint wears, it gets to a point where it won't spark. Guess what a flincher does when there is no fire in the pan?

The action has been bedded (saga on several pages above). A trigger might be a thing, but I'm not making that judgment based on one trip to the range.

One foot is in the reloading rabbit hole, it might be too late for me and my retirement account. I'm going doooowwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

 

[std7mag]

I'm curious, just how important is a tight "cheek weld"? At present my scope comes into full view the moment the rifle is mounted. I'm not "welded" to the stock either but rather am lightly on it. I expect for long range shooting a tighter cheek weld might be more desirable but for close range, which often involves quick acquisition and fire, wouldn't something a bit looser be better? I have thought about lower rings which would undoubtedly tighten the weld (I'm presently in the process of changing rings for other reasons), but would that adversely affect my ability to make quick and/or running shots? Right now I have complete confidence in my proven ability to take animals on the run with that rifle. Mind you, running shots are not something I advocate ... unless one has the luxury of shooting thousands of rounds per year at moving targets ... and a gun that fits perfectly.

I would think that if a landmark is needed on the stock for cheek placement, the proper solution would be to readjust the scope so it automatically comes into proper alignment/focus the instant the gun is mounted. Either raise/lower the rings or move the scope fore/aft.

To be honest, for best repeatable accuracy, the human wouldn't interact with the gun at all.
Pay close attention to match shooters. Their cheek isn't actually on the gun.
They shoot what is known as free recoil. As in their shoulder isn't touching the buttpad either.
Thumb accross the back of the pistol grip, and trigger finger are all the human contact they use.

Why?
Because that way is consistent.

You will not consistently put your cheek in the exact same spot, with the exact same pressure.

And a Leadsled is one of the worst inventions ever created for shooting!
They only teach bad habbits.
Front bag with rear bag, or front rest with rear bag are gonna be your most stable.
Also, don't forget it is a hunting stock. The butt stock is wedge shaped. Not conductive for your best grouping.

 

[std7mag]

Flinch is something easy to note with a flintlock - as that flint wears, it gets to a point where it won't spark. Guess what a flincher does when there is no fire in the pan?

The action has been bedded (saga on several pages above). A trigger might be a thing, but I'm not making that judgment based on one trip to the range.

One foot is in the reloading rabbit hole, it might be too late for me and my retirement account. I'm going doooowwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

Do it!!!

Reloading can be as inexpensive, or as expensive as you let it be.

If your not hung up on names or colors, it can be reasonable.
Lee single stage press for $55.
Lee dies in the $30-45 range.

Keep an eye out for garage/yard sales. Flea markets, etc.
You can get some good deals on previously enjoyed equipment.

Also, others like myself that reload ALOT, will have stuff that they don't use anymore.

Nothing like shooting that small group, or taking a game animal with ammo YOU made!!

 

[OntarioHunter]

Do it!!!

Reloading can be as inexpensive, or as expensive as you let it be.

If your not hung up on names or colors, it can be reasonable.
Lee single stage press for $55.
Lee dies in the $30-45 range.

Keep an eye out for garage/yard sales. Flea markets, etc.
You can get some good deals on previously enjoyed equipment.

Also, others like myself that reload ALOT, will have stuff that they don't use anymore.

Nothing like shooting that small group, or taking a game animal with ammo YOU made!!

I just presumed he was already reloading. Finding a good used set of 30-06 full length dies would be easy and cheap. Lots out there. They're built like a tank so not much can get wore out even if heavily used. I use a cheap two-handed case trimmer. Not terribly convenient but it always works. Used RCBS Junior presses are up for sale cheap all the time by guys upgrading or dropping out. They either work fine or are broke in two. The spendy thing is digital powder measure/scale. After buying one, I wouldn't advise anyone to start loading without it. Foolproof and speeds things up 300%. Again, used ones are always coming up for sale as techy reloaders upgrade. Good investment. There's more risk of getting something used that doesn't work (electronics after all) so keep that in mind.

Edit: I forgot to add "bullet puller." These are a simple plastic hammer looking thing that draws out bullet and powder from loaded shells. Very important to have one of these if you're experimenting with loads. Allows you to start over with a different recipe without having to shoot everything you've loaded. You can reuse the bullets, brass, powder and unfired primers.

 

[Farmerj]

A trigger might be a thing, but I'm not making that judgment based on one trip to the range.

Most factory triggers are “lawyer settings” in them.

Just cleaning up the take up/overtravel and adjusting pull weight can make a world of difference.

 

[std7mag]

A digital powder dispenser can come WAAAY down the road!
I finally got one a couple of months ago.
Not about to give up my beam scale though!

I have the hammer type bullet puller. It's never really worked for me the way i'd like.
I prefer the collet type that uses the press.

 

[David658]

I just presumed he was already reloading. Finding a good used set of 30-06 full length dies would be easy and cheap. Lots out there. They're built like a tank so not much can get wore out even if heavily used. I use a cheap two-handed case trimmer. Not terribly convenient but it always works. Used RCBS Junior presses are up for sale cheap all the time by guys upgrading or dropping out. They either work fine or are broke in two. The spendy thing is digital powder measure/scale. After buying one, I wouldn't advise anyone to start loading without it. Foolproof and speeds things up 300%. Again, used ones are always coming up for sale as techy reloaders upgrade. Good investment. There's more risk of getting something used that doesn't work (electronics after all) so keep that in mind.

Edit: I forgot to add "bullet puller." These are a simple plastic hammer looking thing that draws out bullet and powder from loaded shells. Very important to have one of these if you're experimenting with loads. Allows you to start over with a different recipe without having to shoot everything you've loaded. You can reuse the bullets, brass, powder and unfired primers.

I have a complete reloading setup, intending to reload my 1911 since the bigmouth is so expensive to shoot. As I've bought guns, I've bought dies. So I have it all, but the only thing I have ever reloaded was my 45-70, with black powder. Going to put it to work in the next couple of weeks, since I have the week after Christmas off, and the outdoor honeydo's are on hold till things thaw.

 

[David658]

Rifle officially shoots better than me. During my range trip today, learned some things that I was doing that the rifle issues were hiding (too much "noise" to detect my foibles). This is the final group from today, at 100 yards, will move out to 300 now. So, somewhere between 100 and 300 I'll find my maximum range, methinks.

 

[David658]

A range report. Been going to the range as I can, so yesterday when I took my new Hawken out to shoot, I toted my M77 along - the one that this thread was born of. The Hawken is a shooter (a Santa Fe Hawken, 53 cal), but I have an eye problem that is requiring new glasses so I stopped after a handful of shots.

Out came the '06. Went through about a dozen rounds, this was my final group: